Changes to credit system will give meaning to the way we learn

New moves towards credit-based qualifications across most of Britain promise to transform opportunities for learners, as Janet Barlow, the chief executive of the Open College Network in Wales, explains

New moves towards credit-based qualifications across most of Britain promise to transform opportunities for learners, as Janet Barlow, the chief executive of the Open College Network in Wales, explains

THE underlying philosophy of lifelong learning is that everyone, at every age, should be offered maximum encouragement to add to their knowledge and skill.

That pre-supposes people will be able to extract full value from every piece of learning they undertake, and any barriers that might deter them from education or training will be swept away.

Recent weeks have seen a major milestone on the road to this goal with an announcement that promises to usher in a genuine era of accessible and flexible learning.

This was the announcement that the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) is finally to be implemented in Wales, England and Northern Ireland.

It’s not something that will necessarily have registered on most people’s radar but, ultimately, it could transform the attitudes of millions of people towards lifelong learning.

In effect it will, at last, bring into the UK mainstream the practice of awarding credits for each and every part of each and every vocational qualification.

That means people can be recognised officially for small pieces of learning they undertake rather than have to wait until they have completed an entire qualification before getting their achievement on the record.

It also means they can use these units of credit, where relevant, for an employment application or a college place, or potentially, they can take units from one qualification and use them in order to shorten the process needed to gain another qualification. Because many credit-based units of learning will be relevant to different courses, people will hopefully be encouraged, having gained one qualification, to go on and achieve another, and another.

This could have major career advantages for many people nationwide.

A national learner database is being established to record all learning in the framework so individuals can make this available to whoever they choose as evidence of knowledge and aptitude.

People in Wales, or elsewhere in the UK, can feel confident their achievements will be recognised wherever they go.

Of course the concept of breaking qualifications down into flexible credits isn’t new. The Assembly Government has been championing the cause for years with the Credit and Qualifications Framework for Wales, which covers all learning at all levels. It recognises that employers, as well as learners, often don’t want full qualifications but flexible recognition for pieces of learning that meet their immediate needs.

The announcement that the QCF for vocational qualifications is to be implemented across most of the UK sends out the signal that credit is finally coming of age and will greatly enhance its impact in Wales.

As an organisation which has been promoting a credit-based approach for many years, OCN Wales can see how this milestone potentially marks the start of a new era in which adults will have much greater incentive to take up learning and make it a continuous part of their lives.

We know that the credit-based qualifications we already offer provide valuable opportunities for people with no formal qualifications to show for their school years, which return to learning as adults and begin to accumulate credits that build into small qualifications. They then move on to larger qualifications that increase their chances of a good job or a college or university place.

Far more adults will be encouraged by the realisation that they no longer need to worry that they will have wasted time if they can't finish a full qualification. Moreover, they won’t be disadvantaged if they need to drop out of a course early for unforeseen reasons. People should be able to return to their course at some later stage and pick up where they left off.

Even if they can’t return they will still have valuable credit on record that is recognised across most of Britain.

For maximum benefit to be achieved, all qualifications need to be credit based. Of course things won’t change overnight. As with all change in education, it takes time to seep into the public consciousness.

However the providers of education and the awarding bodies have a major role to play to giving impetus to the change.

The awarding bodies need to be forward looking in designing qualifications which use each other's units of learning, thereby building flexibility into the system that encourages people to undertake more learning.

Providers need to be proactive and creative in showing learners and potential learners how the new credit-based approach can open up a major new world of knowledge, skill and opportunity for them.

And, crucially, the Assembly Government and employers need to work in partnership to provide funding and other incentives to support individuals who want to increase their skills and knowledge.

In effect the new framework will pull down many barriers. We must now capture people’s imagination and draw them into this exciting new world of learning.

Janet Barlow is Chief Executive of the Open College Network (OCN) Wales.